Whale beaches at São Paulo's Pinacoteca do Estado museum

Weird, I know. But true. There is a full-size beached whale, measuring a whopping 18 meters in length (and 3 meters in diameter) at the Pinacoteca do Estado, one of São Paulo's best art museums. Instead of blubber and skin, the whale is actually made of styrofoam and covered in blue jean fabric and is the work of artist João Loureiro. On show until August 23. The photo (and the news) are brought to you courtesy of Diogo Oliveira, the über personal concierge who runs the tailored tour company SP Bureau.

For those of you who don't know the Pinacoteca, it's actually the city's oldest museum and first opened in December 1905. It started off with a focus on 19th Century Braziian art. In the sixties, the collection continued to grow and incorporated several later works. Today it owns more than 8,000 works, and has expanded into a second building, which was dubbed Estação Pinacoteca. The main building suffered a significant remodelling and expansion in the late 90s, projected by Pritzer prize winner Paulo Mendes da Rocha - considered by many one of the architect's most masterful projects.

Pinacoteca do Estado: Praça da Luz, 2, tel. 11 3324.1000. Tuesdays to Sundays, 10 am to 6 pm


And more sightseeing and attractions in São Paulo:

• Private and customized tours of São Paulo
• The best of Brazilian street art on show at Choque Cultural gallery
• Fortes Vilaça, the best gallery in São Paulo, shows works by Janaína Tschapes
  
• SP Arte, the best and most important art show in Brazil
• Vik Muniz on show at the Masp museum
  
• A slideshow of my favourite São Paulo images
• The Baixo Augusta district is booming with new restaurants and clubs,
  and The New York Times has it covered
• Beautiful movie theater Cine Marabá in the Centro (Old Downtown) reopens after huge restoration